My best friend thinks holding a 'meet the baby' open house might be a good way for everybody to meet LO and avoid unannounced or last minute visitors. She says she wishes she would've done it when her LO was born.Has anyone else done this? How did it work out?
ETA - she said she would host it at her home so that if I got overwhelmed DH and I could leave.
blogger / pomegranate / 3201 posts
No, but I think it sounds like a fun idea in theory and maybe not so much in reality. I know I wouldn't have had much fun hosting a party within the first few months after Liam was born...
wonderful pea / 17279 posts
Subscribing. This is exactly what I plan to do for the exact same reason. I would love for even my ILs to wait for the party.
One thing I plan to do is send the invites out right away to make sure people know an event is planned, coming soon.
papaya / 10473 posts
@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: I feel like it would be a huge weight off my chest to get it all over with at once. My friend feels like her ability to successfully breastfeed was killed by all the friends/family that just popped in unannounced or stayed for extended periods of time. She just said she could never get comfortable.... which in turn has caused me to have big time visitor-phobia!
grapefruit / 4120 posts
We did it and it was a good choice for us. My MIL and SIL did almost everything - we just showed up (it was in our building but not our apartment). People were understanding about my need to breastfeed. Other than that I'm not the type to want to hold my baby all the time and not let anyone touch her so no issues there!! We got some very nice gifts, too.
watermelon / 14467 posts
I think it would be a great thing to do. A lot of my extended family and DH's family live more than 5 hours away, so it would be nice to have a little get-together where everyone could meet the baby and have little or no unexpected visitors.
blogger / nectarine / 2010 posts
We just had one two weeks ago. Isaiah was six weeks and it worked so well. Everyone got to meet him at once. The only drawback I found is that he was a little overstimulated. It was less formal than a traditional shower and we had fun.
blogger / pomegranate / 3300 posts
We had one with our oldest son. It was fun to have everyone meet him.
blogger / persimmon / 1231 posts
We didn't do one but I wish we had! It would have been nicer to have everyone meet her at once rather than the slow trickle of visitors over the weeks. Yeah I can see how it would be a bit overwhelming... but I still like the idea. Especially if you can have help with hosting or food 
GOLD / eggplant / 11517 posts
My aunt is throwing one...but LO will be over 6 months old at the time. WAY more manageable.
squash / 13199 posts
For me personally I wouldnt like it because LO gets overwhelmed when there are a lot of people all trying to hold her or pass her around. I prefer dealing with people in smaller groups
papaya / 10473 posts
@Mrsbells: That's what I was worried about. As much as I don't want to entertain a string of DH's family day after day, I don't want LO getting upset or overstimulated at getting passed around...and the thought of him getting passed around is hard for me to handle.
honeydew / 7687 posts
I'd rather endure a day of passing a baby around than several different days! Especially if someone else is hosting.
coconut / 8305 posts
I don't think I could've ever managed this in the first few months! Trying to get us all ready to go anywhere was overwhelming in & of itself & then I was constantly stressed about needing to nurse since we were still getting things down & P was pretty much my "little joey" & didn't want to be held by anyone but me. We went to church a couple times but I spent most of my time wearing her & in the moms room away from everyone. I think for us this is something that looks real good on paper but doesn't quite pan out like planned. lol
cantaloupe / 6885 posts
My mom is hosting a brunch for family/close friends once the baby is born. It will be SO nice for me not to have visitors every day for a few weeks and get it over with in one shot.
nectarine / 2217 posts
i think if your friend is offering to host, i'd do it! especially because your friend totally understands and will protect you and LO from anything uncomfortable/too stressful.
to be honest i found that LO as a newborn was really unfazed by people and crowds because he was pretty much sleeping all the time. when he got a little bit older and more alert was when i worried more about over stimulation. this is just our experience, though!
also, if everyone who wants to meet baby is at the sip and see, they will (hopefully?) understand that they can't hold baby for very long (lots of other ppl) or perhaps even at all when they come to your house for a private visit they often will want to hold baby for longer, etc since it's just them!
but the main reason i'd do it..... you dont have to clean your living room, kitchen, or bathroom for guests :D! just my 2 cents, though!! please do whatever YOU and DH feel comfortable doing. even if you decide to do it, then cancel when baby is born for whatever reason -- don't feel bad!!
pomegranate / 3105 posts
If we get lucky I'll totally be doing this. I don't want a baby shower.
cantaloupe / 6146 posts
We did one and it was nice but we did it at our place because I wasn't up to traveling--and it didn't stop family from stopping by ALL.THE.TIME. I'm still glad we did it.
GOLD / wonderful grape / 20289 posts
We didn't. DH was especially paranoid about LO being in crowds until her 2 month shots. Plus my LO didn't love being passed around a lot and I feel like that would happen there. And if it didn't happen I'd feel bad that people didn't get to hold LO if they wanted to. When they visited at our house they could have her all to themselves, and for a good amount of time.
wonderful clementine / 24134 posts
@grizz: WE did one and it was great. It was at my mom's house. We did it when she was about 6 weeks old. I think if you don't want your LO to be passed around, maybe you can set up a "guest of honor spot" a rocking chair and a bassinet for you and the baby to sit in and then let guests come up and meet and greet you guys there while you are holding the baby.
hostess / watermelon / 14932 posts
I was super anxious during the nb days and barely liked giving her up to my family, never mind extended family and ILs. Not sure if my situation was normal or something worse (not quite PPD..). Anyway, I would have hated passing her around all night. But that's just me. I found people were good about visiting, I just went upstairs to nurse if they were still over. ILs actually barely came by because my husband isn't on speaking terms with them. Long story..
papaya / 10473 posts
@sorrycharlie: That's me too, and LO isn't even here yet! I think I'm going to be a mess about it either way we do it. Thank goodness my husband understands and said I don't have to make a decision either way right now.
coconut / 8472 posts
I have what may be a stupid question - do you have to pass the baby around to everyone at a sip and see? I've thought about doing one of these, but handing the baby over to 30 different people doesn't sound appealing.
GOLD / pear / 1845 posts
Around here we always have showers after the baby is born (and for subsequent children as well) so it's a similar idea. We waited until around 6 weeks though, so most of our close friends and family had met them already, it was more for church ladies and all the other people who want to make googly eyes and hold the baby.
grapefruit / 4663 posts
I am due Sept. 22 and we are planning on hosting a halloween party for this reason. I don't think it will be a big deal but I realize it will mostly be my husband or MIL handling the planning. The baby will be 4-5 weeks and we'll do something easy for food, I have a housekeeper so we'll have her clean for it.
wonderful pea / 17279 posts
@MrsCB: heck no! I'm definitely doing THOU's idea of a guest of honor swing. I am also going to set up hand washing stations with sneeze in your sleeve instruction placards.
GOLD / wonderful pomegranate / 28905 posts
I love it and wanted one for M so I think I will hold one for #2. Since your friend is hosting I would def do it.
coconut / 8472 posts
@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: Oh, that's a good idea, I didn't see that post! A couple close family members holding the baby would be ok with me, but then everyone would want to and that would make me totally nervous.
GOLD / squash / 13576 posts
We didn't mean to but we did. LO came before my baby shower, so he was actually there at the baby shower. He had just been released from the NICU so we didn't let people hold him but I think people enjoyed getting to see him.
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